January 2010

January 31, 2010

It snowed all day Saturday, laying down 10-12" all around the city. It's unusual for Richmond to get two snowfalls this big in one winter.

Xander took a four-hour nap (!!) and we let the kids stay up a little late to watch The Wizard of Ox, complete with popcorn. Reese opted out of the movie (but not the popcorn) but Griff and Xander were absolutely transfixed. Xander seems to think the movie is about Toto, though, and kept asking us to explain what was happening to the dog.

On Sunday Griff explored the yard, throwing snow in the air, throwing himself at the snow, leaving a network of tracks everywhere he went.

Reese, as per his usual, preferred to stay snug and warm inside.

We kept Xander inside, much to his chagrin, because he has the cold the rest of us had last week, and his cough doesn't sound good. He's also a little feverish. It stinks to tell an enthusiastic child that they can't go play in the snow.

The birds benefited from my remembering to fill the feeders on Friday. I benefited from their visits for food and from the snowy and melting surroundings.

I saw a blue jay, mockingbird, lots of chickadees and song sparrows and juncos, a pair of cardinals, a European starling, a tufted titmouse, one hairy woodpecker, and a redtailed hawk that swooped over the yard and scared everybody away for a moment.

Dan often takes the boys out to Barnes & Noble on the weekend to get a treat in the cafe and read books and play with trains in the children's section. Today B&N had to come to us, chocolate milk, coffee, train table, books, and all:

January 30, 2010

January 26, 2010

Not usually a big fan of the place, but they have REAL Necco conversation hearts. Not blue raspberry flavored, not sparkly, not Brach's adulteration of the confection. The real deal, taste-of-my-childhood, hard-as-rocks, minty, chalky little hearts with puzzling sayings stamped on them. I can die happy now. (Look, the horrid blue raspberry debacle was that bad, seriously.)

The kids were over the moon to get to explore the candy racks, can you tell?

January 25, 2010

Reese and I arranged with Dillon and his mom for the boys to wear their matching "Feed Me" shirts to school today.

While looking at this picture just now, I considered how unbelievable it is that I never went to preschool, hadn't considered it for my own children until shortly before sending Griffin, and now it is such an important part of our lives!

January 23, 2010

Am I the only one who finds the beginning of a new year really disorganized and stressful? It's not just the expectation to set resolutions (which I don't do on Jan 1, I'm an idealist 24/7/365) or looming tax dates, there's something about the sense of a new opportunity, the holiday decorations to be put away, the lack of light and vitamin D, the list of things to plan (spring activities, summer vacation, school events), and this nesting feeling I get once the tree is down. Ugh. I mean, exciting, but UGH.

So, sorry to go without updating for a while. I decided to undertake a 365 project - which is a creative project you do every day for a year - and Griff joins me on it most days. Finding time for it has been difficult. That is complicated further by a big career thing that I'll get to later.

First, January catch-up! (the links lead to 365 posts)

The kids and I finished up their winter break in a real do-nothing, go-nowhere mood. I guess that's good in some ways? I wouldn't mind it so much, except that I didn't cook enough breakfasts and read enough stories. Things to remember for next time. I'd like to remember stay-at-home days as snuggly instead of driving-eachother-crazy.

Oh, except we did do something productive. Griff and I hand-delivered birthday party invitations again this year. Part of me wants to swear that I'll be ahead of the game next year and mail them two weeks in advance, but I actually enjoy driving around and seeing where all of his friends live, maybe getting to say hello to a friend or two. (Hi, Pache!)

Xander shocked me by being the only one of my children ever to voluntarily wear a knit cap as a toddler. He's SO cute in it. He stopped wearing it two days later, though. Ah, well, at least he was warm for those two days.

Reese continues to want to wear no outerwear or only his grey jacket. He HATES wearing a coat. Our surprising compromise: grey jacket over coat. I dont' understand what part of this arrangement makes the coat acceptable to him, it looks awfully bulky to me, but hey, this is one winter during which I never have to worry about him being warm enough outdoors. He wears two shirts every day, too.

Occasionally I took a freezing-cold walk around the back alleys in our neighborhood, toting my new telephoto zoom lens and stalking hawks. I was lucky enough to find this one with a fresh kill.

We visited New York Deli at least once. We always bring a stack of quarters.

A 1920s typewriter followed me home from a local antique shop and sparked much interest among the kids. How does it work? Why is there no #1?

We celebrated Griff's 7th birthday with a bowling party for him and his friends. Seven seven-year-olds are the perfect number and age for this kind of party!

I learned some PhotoShop tricks - textures and vignetting.

I also had a "Mom's Night Out" at the home of one of the NAP mamas, who is also one of the first friends I made after moving to Richmond.

We had some pajama days and a lot of screen time. Reese and Xander played better together than ever before.

We had an impromptu after-school playdate with Jack and Josiah, during which Dan took ALL FIVE KIDS to the grocery store. Voluntarily. Hokey Smokes! They had a great time, Josiah taught Griff some new jokes, and we all ate fabulous junk food (mmm, onion dip). I love these kids, they're so sweet and fun and polite and adorable! My boys all love them, too.

Griff had his first school dance and his first "date". You know those stories you hear about childhood sweethearts who fall in love when they're five years old and eventually marry each other and have this precious storybook romance? Those stories sound eerily like what's going on here. Griff and Mia have been sweethearts for a year or thereabouts. Not to jump the gun or anything...but the in-laws are awesome.

Ok, so back to the stressed-Jess thing. I was asked to be a photographer for the Sabot auction this year, which involves working with two lovely Sabot artists who are putting together a gallery of children's art. I count this as an honor. Then a friend referred me to friends of hers who were looking for a wedding photographer. I've been researching and deep-thinking and planning ever since. I'm arranging a meeting with the couple and there's a chance they may hire me (I believe they're also looking at one other photographer, maybe more). This would be an INCREDIBLE opportunity and honor, but it's also incredibly stressful. I had planned to take at least one paying client this year, but not until the fall and only for children's or family portraiture. This ups the stakes considerably and steps up my time frame for things like figuring out rates, contracts, insurance, model releases, and acquiring some new equipment, too. I would have four months between now and the wedding, and I need to spend that four months PERFECTING my photojournalistic event/human connection skills as well as learning flash. Yikes. This couple knows that this would be a first for me, and they have seen my Flickr; I need to address expectations with them even more before signing anything.

Scary, but sometimes you have to leap!

Phew. Writing out all of January (thus far) makes me feel like we've been far more productive than I had considered before! Here's to all the learning and living we'll do in the weeks and months to come.